CHAPTER 1

Introduction

OVER the years increased recognition has been given to the

importance of the work of local boards of education. Evidences of this may be found in the growing number of articles and books devoted to school boards and their work, in the rapidly growing body of school board research, and in the formation of State school board associations in every State for the purpose of providing services to local boards. The major emphasis in these developments has been focused on improving the effectiveness of school boards as educational policy-making agencies. One important aspect of this emphasis in recent years has been the attention given to written statements of board policy, or manuals setting forth in systematic fashion important school board decisions.

Interest in written policies grows

The development of written statements of policy by boards of education is a relatively new movement. References to written policies in the literature of several decades ago are practically nonexistent. Surveys made as late as 1946 indicated that few boards were concerned with written policies. In all but a few school systems, board policies were unwritten or were scattered throughout the official minutes.

Within more recent years it has been almost impossible to find a publication dealing with school board activities that does not make reference to written policies. Recent surveys, while revealing that the practice of developing written policies is far from universal, indicate that more and more boards are interested in developing them. This movement has gained the widespread attention and support of authorities in the field of school administration. Increasingly in

recent years they have emphasized that written statements of policy constitute an important influence in the operation of school systems. They have pointed out a number of advantages written policies bring, including the following: (1) Foster continuity, stability, and consistency of board action, (2) enable the board to provide for many affairs or conditions in advance of their happening, (3) save time and effort by eliminating the necessity of having to make a decision each time a recurring situation developes, (4) facilitate the orderly review of board practices, (5) aid boards in appraising educational services, (6) improve board-superintendent relationships, (7) reduces pressures of special interest groups, (8) help in the orientation of new board and staff members, (9) enable staff members to understand their work in relation to the total activities of the school system, (10) facilitate the improvement of staff morale by providing uniform and fair treatment (11) keep the public and school staff informed of board action, and (12) give lay citizens a better understanding of how they can work with school authorities in building a good school system.1

Terminology used

Although authorities in the field of school administration are generally agreed on the desirability of school board policies being systematized in written form, there are certain differences in usage of terminology that should be recognized at this point.

In referring to such school board codes, some authorities have used such titles as "Written Board Policy" or "Statement of Policies." Other authorities have used titles such as "Written Rules and Regulations" or "Code of Rules and Regulations." In both types of instances, the terms policies and rules and regulations have been broadly used, in a generic sense, with respect to board decisions and actions which have been systematically arranged in a manual or similar document.

However, both these terms have been used in a more specific sense by a number of authorities. In these instances, distinctions have been made with respect to the meaning of the terms policies

1 For other summaries of advantages see:

American Association of School Administrators and National School Boards Association. Written Policies for School Boards. Washington, D.C.: the Association, 1955. pp. 8-9.

Ohio Education Association. School Personnel Policies. Columbus: the Association, 1956. p. 6. Polley, John W. Statement of Policies. Albany: New York State School Boards Association, Inc., 1956. p. 6.

Smith, Max S., and Smittle, W. Ray. The Board of Education and Educational Policy Development. Ann Arbor: Edwards Inc., 1954. p. 2.

and rules and regulations. For example, a 1955 publication of the American Association of School Administrators and the National School Boards Association has made the following distinctions:

When applied, school board policies become statements which set forth the purposes and prescribe in general terms the organization and program of a school system. They create a framework within which the superintendent and his staff can discharge their assigned duties with positive direction. They tell what is wanted. They may also indicate why and how much.

There is growing acceptance of the view that policies should not deal with the detailed descriptions of the ways in which the purposes and objectives are to be accomplished. These specific directions, telling how, by whom, where and when things are to be done, are coming to be labeled as rules and regulations. They apply policy to practice. It is possible, even likely, that several rules or regulations will deal with the application of one stated policy.2

Similar distinctions have been made in a number of State handbooks or bulletins prepared for school board use. In these, as in the above quotation, the term policies is applied to general statements of the board indicating how it will decide cases or problems that may arise in a given aspect of its responsibilities, and the term rules and regulations is applied to directions required for implementing policies.3

Where such distinctions have been made, there is a notable lack of agreement concerning what a school board's code should include. Some recommend that it should include the board's policies and also the rules and regulations adopted by it. Others recommend that the code should contain policies only, that the administrative rules and regulations necessary for implementing policies be incorporated in a separate document.

The difficulty of always maintaining a clear-cut distinction between policies and rules and regulations has been pointed out in some publications prepared for school board use. One such publication states:

Policies and rules merge one with the other. It is not always easy to see where one begins and the other leaves off. It is no great matter if some rules find their way in among policies. It will not ordinarily be difficult to identify what is policy and what is not, but there will be points at which different boards will exercise different judgments. What one views as policy, another will view as rule. Such variations are certainly acceptable. What is desired is a clear concise statement

2 American Association of School Administrators and National School Boards Association. Written Policies for School Boards. Washington, D.C.: the Association, 1955. p. 6.

3 For specific illustrations of such distinctions see:

Carpenter, W. W., Capps, A. G., and Townsend, L. G. Suggestions for Procedure for Missouri Boards o Education. Columbia: University of Missouri (Bulletin No. 64, Education Series), 1956. p. 18.

Polley, John W. Statement of Policies. Albany: New York State School Boards Association, Inc., 1956. p. 2.

Washington State School Directors Association. Boardmanship. Olympia: the Association, 1958.

p. 7.

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of how the board intends to operate. Good form will help bring this about but the goal is effective, efficient operation and not the form of the final document.1

In this study the term "school board policy manual" has been used in referring to the documents, or manuals, which have been analyzed. As will be noted later, in this analysis, no attempt was undertaken to make distinctions between board policies and rules and regulations as made by some authorities quoted in this chapter.

Polley, op. cit., p. 2.

CHAPTER 2

General Features of the Manuals

AS BOARDS OF EDUCATION become increasingly interested in

improving their effectiveness, there is every likelihood that more and more of them will be involved in the preparation of comprehensive policy manuals. The purpose of this study is to provide information that will be of assistance in the development of such manuals.

The information presented is based on an analysis of the content of the manuals developed in 60 local school systems. These were obtained through the cooperation of executive secretaries of State school board associations and others who furnished the names of a number of school systems that had developed policy manuals. Each of these school systems was contacted and asked to furnish a copy of its manual for analysis. A sizable number of those contacted reported that their manuals were then in process of development or revision and copies could not be furnished. However, 60 manuals suitable for the purposes of this study were received.

Distribution of the manuals

No attempt was made to collect the manuals for the study on the basis of a statistical sample. Likewise, no claim is made that the manuals collected are representative of all board policy manuals.

State representation. The 60 manuals analyzed in this study were furnished by school districts in 17 States. The number from each State was as follows: